London's favorite ballet school opens in the Grove

Maria Teresa Del Real and Therese Schweppe

Irish ballerina and entrepreneur Therese Schweppe has expanded her UK-based ballet school Regal Ballet, to Miami, offering ballet lessons to boys and girls age 18 months to 14 years. 

Therese, and local prima ballerina Maria Teresa Del Real (owner of Miami's ballet Barre Box studio) have already put the wheels in motion for Regal Ballet Miami  - and plan to expand across the city. These ballet lessons for children, will be taught by the prima Ballerina, who received awards from HRH the Queen of England and President Ronald Reagan for her achievements in ballet. 

Three weeks ago, they opened the first location in Pilates One Coconut Grove where classes will take place on Wednesday afternoons and last week they opened in the House of Movement in Brickell, which will take place on Thursday afternoons.

Therese Schweppe, 33, has been running her ballet school,  Regal Ballet for 8 years and has built it to 25 locations across London, UK. She lives in London and has been a frequent visitor to Miami since 2007. But the idea for expanding to Miami only happened this year.

"In only four months, so much has happened. Everything is falling into place. I love Miami, I visit once or twice a year, and have many friends here. I think it's so important that children in Miami have access to excellent ballet classes, the response to our classes so far has been fantastic!," says Therese.

She reconnected with Miami based ballerina, Maria two years ago. Maria was Therese's ballet teacher from 2000-2003, back when Therese was at vocational ballet school in London.

"We had an amazing student teacher relationship," say's Therese. "She was one of the best teachers I ever had, a huge inspiration. She helped me push myself, and taught me what that really meant. She inspired me to become the best of myself." 

Therese and Maria and realised that there could be a possibility to bring her school here with Maria's help.

"It just came up in conversation! I didn't know how much she loves working with children and was excited that here was someone else who matched my standard of ballet teaching; we could really make a difference here!" says Therese. "And Maria is a force to be reckoned with, she is incredibly humble but when she was in London before she was my teacher, Maria was recognized by the Queen at Buckingham Palace for being one of the most distinguished Americans living in the UK. And before that, in the 80's, Ronald Reagan presented her with an award for her achievements in ballet at the White House. Maria danced as a Prima Ballerina with some of the worlds best ballet companies and also performed with Rudolf Nureyev. She is such an inspiration to me, and now it's time to inspire the children of Miami!"

"Yes, those are some of my experiences, I feel there are so many more achievements to be had in life, which ad to what I have to offer to my students," says Maria, who has run her studio Barre Box since 2010. 


"For children, there are so many benefits, where do I begin?!" says Therese, "Ballet helps to ignite a passion for learning and personal growth, children learn to focus and apply themselves by working towards a goal, and to feel a sense of achievement for their efforts. And of course there are amazing health benefits; physically and mentally. I see a huge improvement in confidence which is so important these days. " That's Therese with the children in the photo here.

"I have seen that children who do ballet from an early age tend to have a much more proactive and positive approach to life. And it means exercise becomes a normal part of their routine. I also see a huge improvement in children's confidence, even after one semester. I'm excited and grateful for the opportunity to bring these changes to the children in Miami."

Regal Ballet Miami will, like Regal Ballet London, offer the world's most recognized  method of teaching, RAD (Royal Academy of Dance). Also offered will be Therese's own Regal Ballet Syllabus for Earlier Years (age 2 - 6) which is already running in preschool programs in London in all 25 locations. Regal Ballet Miami will offer ballet tuition for children in local studios and venues across Miami - starting in Brickell and Coconut Grove. 

To book a free trial lesson or to get in touch with Therese and Maria, visit www.regalballetmiami.com 

The Grove location is at 2640 SW 28th Lane; Brickell is 1900 Brickell Avenue. 


Phone: 305-922-3111.